You know you've become more Israeli than American (Canadian, Australian, South African, ...you fill in your land of former residence) when you:
- wear jeans to a wedding, and the majority of other guests are also wearing jeans
- start getting dressed for a party at the exact time that the invitation said the party would start, even though it's an hour's travel from your home
- have serious business meetings in cafes
- go shopping at the mall with your dog (Tel Aviv only)
- don't bat an eye when your waiter serves your order while he talks on his cellphone
- debate with gusto the efficacy of directions given by strangers at the bus stop to other strangers at the bus stop
- breathe a sigh of relief when you hear only one solitary ambulance siren going by
- call up your Long Distance/Cable TV/Cellular/Internet Phone Service Provider every six months and say you don't want to pay them so much any more, and smile as they offer you a cheaper "dil" (deal)
- leave your stuff at a repair shop without expecting a receipt, or, if you do get a receipt, lose it or not, but get your stuff back anyhow, at least 3 business days later than promised.
- sit in the front passenger seat, next to your taxi driver
- miss being bumped into when you walk down the street while you're on vacation in any other country
3 comments:
Good list. I chuckled at numbers 1 through 5, laughed out loud at number 6 (debate) and stopped laughing quite abruptly at number 7.
An abrupt switch from joyous hilarity to dreadful pain - and then climbing less abruptly back to "normal" daily life is also typical of the Israeli experience...I wish it was merely a literary conceit.
Ohhh, I AM homesick now. uff.
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